The Eucharistic Miracle of CARAVACA DE LA CRUZ

MIRACOLI—panneauxespagne 12/05/06 14 : 11 Page 5 The Eucharistic miracle of Caravaca de la Cruz regards the celebration of a miraculous Mass during which Jesus appeared inside a Host together with a Crucifix, Thanks to this apparition, the Muslim king of Murcia and his family were converted to Catholicism, The most authoritative document describing the miracle is the contemporary testimony of the Franciscan Father Gilles of Zamora, the historian of King Ste Ferdinand, tative is that supplied by King Saint Ferdinand's historian of the time, Father Gilles de Zamora. We know with certainty that a Christian priest, Don Gfnes Pérez Chirinos de Cuenca, traveled amongst the Moors of the Kingdom of Murcia with the pur- pose of preaching the Gospel. He was captured, however, and brought to the presence of the Mo- orish King Zeyt-Abu-Zeyt who asked him some questions about certain aspects of the Christian faith.

Elhe king particularly wanted to deepen his understanding of the Mass. The priest went into detail explaining the importance of the Mass and the king, fascinated by the preaching of the priest, ordered him immediately to celebrate a Mass. Since the priest did not have the necessary equipment for the celebration, the king ordered SPAIN, 1231 some of his men to get them from the nearby country of Cuenca, in Christian territory.

But still, the Cross, which needed to be present on the altar during a Mass, had been forgotten. The priest began to celebrate the Mass but, at a certain point, realized the absence of the Cross. He became troubled and stopped. why he was so di- sturbed the priest told him that he needed Elhe king however immediately re- a Cross.

sponded, "Wouldn't that be it?" In fact, at that thanks to the Lord. He then continued with the glorious celebration. The miracle continued. At the moment of the consecration, the Muslim king saw a beautiful Baby in the place of the Host Who gazed on him endearingly.

After having wi- tnessed the miraculous event, the king and his family converted to Christianity and were bapti- zed. Zeyt-Abu-Zeyt took the name of Vincent and his wife took the name Elena. From that day, the 3rd of March 1231, the country is called Ca- ravaca de la Cruz.

Recently, in the jubilee year, the Holy See allowed Caravaca de la Cruz to be the fifth city in the world, after Santiago de Com- postela, Santo Toribio de Liebana, Rome and Je- rusalem, to celebrate the Perpetual Jubilee (one holy year every seven in perpetuum) in the San- ctuary where the Holy Cross is kept.